Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the Avengers.

Authors note: Thank you to those of you who reviewed and welcome to the new followers and favourites.

Chapter 63: Place of Endings

Later in the evening when Dahlia was getting her final shot of the day from Saida and was examining the stab wound which seemed only like a pink scar line on her side she knew she'd have forever, she noticed Saida's small smile at her assistance. Dahlia questioned, "what is it?"

Saida was never one to be overly cheerful and Dahlia could properly count on one hand the number of times she had seen the healer smile or show even a hint of a smile and this was one of those times. The healer answered, "it seems the poison is gone-"

Dahlia shot up in the bed she was lying on and said quickly and excited, "gone, as in gone gone? As in I can travel through a portal and we can all finally go home?"

While her excitement was slightly humorous to the two assistants who laughed, Saida disliked being interrupted, even by the princess so she shot her assistants a look and they quickly shut up and went back to work while Saida looked to Dahlia who sent the healer a nervous smile. Saida said, "from what I can tell, yes, but if even a small amount is left in your system on a cellular level and you travel through a portal across realms, it can cause it to return. To make sure that doesn't happen, you should ask the Queen to take you through portals travelling just here on Midgard. I'll be able to detect if there is any of the poison left completely after a few hours of being exposed to the magic from the portal and it won't have the same affects as it would if you travelled between realms".

"And then?"

"Then if there's no reaction, I think you will be back in your bed on Niflheim before tomorrow's day is up". While Dahlia was smiling, Saida turned to put away her equipment and Dahlia stood from the bed as Saida said, "I'd think about where you want to go, Princess. A whole realm of places to choose from and with a realm like Midgard, the cultural differences among the whole realm is shocking with how different the people can be. There's got to be a list of places you've wanted to go to, maybe choose your top few".

When Saida turned back, she noticed Dahlia's smile wasn't as bright as before and was looking to the ground in thought.

"Princess?"

Dahlia looked back up to the healer and said, "sorry, I was lost in thought. I'll think about it, thank you".

Dahlia then left as they curtsied while she thought about where she wanted to go, and she knew where she wanted to be, where she always wanted to visit, she just didn't know if she could ask her sister to take her back to the place she lost the woman she looked at as a mother and the place she believed her sister to have died. The year of sorrow was still a bit of a haze to Dahlia, as everyone seemed to know the overall state of the Queen's grief, when it came to Niflheim, but it seemed no one knew what Hela was like personally during that year or what she did. Dahlia didn't want to ask her or even Falcon who she suspected knew, as she didn't know how they'd react.

She made her way to the large fire to see everyone gathered around but instead of music being played and people dancing and singing and laughing, many were sat down peacefully around the fire eating, while stories were being told of battles, adventures, stories of other worlds. Everyone seemed captivated by the stories. Getting a plate of food from the camp cook, she saw her father and brothers sat leaning against a log by the fire and joined them. They smiled at her as she sat beside her father, Jörmungandr and Fenrir sat on the other side of him. Loki wrapped an arm around Dahlia as she cuddled into his side and slowly began to eat as they listened to a story.

Dahlia had long since finished eating as more tales were being told and hardly anyone had moved from their spots near the fire when someone tapped Dahlia's shoulder. She turned and smiled when she saw it was her sister, as did her father and brothers. Hela gestured for her to stand and follow, and she did as Hela smiled and said hello to the men of their family.

They walked away from the fire, so they wouldn't disturb the tales and when they were far away enough, they linked arms and began to walk slowly through the camp. It's then that Dahlia asked, "where've you been? You missed some good stories".

Hela hummed as she smiled, "I've probably been told those stories a thousand times or at least know of them. I was checking on the boys' rooms for when we return to Niflheim and other preparations for our return. I was told we were returning soon".

Dahlia laughed slightly at her sister's excitement as she nodded, "yep, poison free".

"So…" Hela said as she turned sideways and let go of her sister, so they were facing each other, "where do you want to go?"

"What?" Dahlia asked, forgetting for a moment what she was meant to do.

Hela answered, "Saida said you needed to go through a portal a few times to get a good idea if you are healed completely or not. So where do you want to go?"

Dahlia shrugged and said, "I don't know…maybe Paris, the Eiffel Tower is supposed to be beautiful at night. Or the pyramids of Egypt".

A moment of silence passed as Hela looked doubtful and she said, "both tourist destinations of this world…" Hela then looked down to the ground then looked to Dahlia as she reached out and held her fingertips and said, "tell me where you want to go".

"I just did".

"No, you didn't. Saida thought she upset you by mentioning leaving and going through portals. She thought you got a little unhappy with leaving your friends, but I knew that wasn't it. You got unhappy when she told you to think of where you want to go, you got upset at the place you thought of…" Hela squeezed her fingertips as Dahlia began to shake her head. She added, "you're worried about upsetting me, you're worried about asking me to take you there. Dahlia, you've worried about others before yourself for too long. Don't worry about my feelings towards that place, just ask and I will take you there".

Dahlia hesitated then removed one of her hands from her sister's and Hela looked disappointed, as if Dahlia was going to let go completely but was surprised when Dahlia turned her hand fully to hold and said, "Godric's Hollow".

Hela showed no emotion as she waved her hand in the air and the portal opened. She gestured for her sister to take the first step, while obviously still holding her hand because of the portal's magic. Dahlia had never been so nervous walking into the portal before, not even the first time she walked through the portal in London to go to Niflheim for the first time.

When they came through the portal, they walked out onto the dark cobbled street, lit only by the street lights in the dark of the night. Thankfully, no one was around in the small village to see them coming through. Hela looked around instantly for bystanders and found none, while Dahlia was frozen to the spot when she saw the cottage in front of her. A long line of cottages was down the street but this one stood out from the rest as a wreckage. The hedges had grown wild over the last fourteen and a half years, since the day Hagrid walked away from the cottage through the rubble now scattered on the waist high grass carrying a baby Dahlia. Most of the cottage was still standing, covered in ivy, but to the right side of the top floor the cottage was blown apart. Dahlia knew that's where it happened, where her mother was murdered, where Voldemort's spell backfired and where she became a horcrux.

Dahlia knew she couldn't move, her feet were frozen to the spot in the middle of the cobbled road, not even being able to step on the path knowing she would be even closer to where so much evil happened. She took a deep breath and said, "why didn't they just rebuild? They just left it like this".

"It's a symbol of the war. A symbol of what was lost and sacrificed and of course what they believed to be the end of the war. Wizards and witches would come here and pay tribute and honour the dead. I saw it when I-" Hela immediately stopped talking and Dahlia didn't fully register that her sister had left a sentence unfinished for a minute.

When it clicked, she frowned and turned to see Hela kneeled in the road, touching a crack that Dahlia didn't realise went from the middle of the road, right to the front door of the cottage. Dahlia asked, "when you what? Is that from the spell backfiring?"

She could see her sister gulp before she answered, "when I was last here, and no this isn't from the spell backfire".

"Then what's it from?" Dahlia asked knowing it was important. When Hela didn't answer, Dahlia decided to ask, "when were you last here?"

Hela hesitated but answered, "November 1st, 2012".

"A year after mum died".

Hela hummed then said quietly, not meaning for Dahlia to hear as she traced the crack, "the last day of the year of sorrow".

"What?" Dahlia said surprised, barely hearing her sister's words. "The year of sorrow. This is where it ended, wasn't it?" Dahlia guessed.

Hela closed her eyes as she nodded.

"Tell me," Dahlia said taking a step closer to her sister, "I know you don't want me to know what you did but tell me what happened here".

Hela opened her eyes as she looked up to her sister and said, "I can't".

"Why not? I get it, you tortured and killed people and hunted Voldemort for a year and it affected Niflheim and sent it into a mourning period of darkness too but why can't I know what happened?"

Hela shook her head as she stood and said, "you'll be disappointed in me".

Confused, Dahlia responded, "you're my big sister, I'd never be disappointed in you".

"It really means that much to you?"

Dahlia shrugged, "to know what you went through when mum died, when you thought I died? Yes. Even if I just know the ending".

For a moment Dahlia thought her sister would say nothing and she didn't, but Hela did take a deep breath and exhaled just as slowly and the world around them shimmered and changed. Dahlia was surprised at the illusion her sister was creating as they were still in the same village, in the same spot, but from the sky, it was a different time. Dahlia knew her sister was showing her what happened.

"LET GO OF ME!" Hela shouted as Falcon appeared in the cobbled street and had his arms wrapped around her waist, keeping her arms trapped too. "I'll hurt you," she threatened.

"Go right ahead," he said, and she wasn't joking as a second later he tried to control his scream and fell to his knees, his tight grip still holding her, so she fell too, and he held her to his chest tightly, even through all the pain. It was clear that she was inflicting little pain upon him, just enough to hurt him but not like she would to anyone she truly wanted to cause harm.

"LOOK AT WHERE WE ARE," he commanded and for the first time since arriving on the street, Hela didn't look trapped and hazed in a fit of fury but calmed down when she saw the cottage. She stiffened and curled slightly into his chest, as if wanting to escape the place in front of her.

Dahlia was surprised at her sister's appearance, ragged and frightening. Her hair tangled in knots and untidy curls, bags under her eyes and her left side seemed even more shrunken against the bones than Dahlia was used to, and she didn't look like she had been eating much if anything at all. Dahlia looked to her present sister who didn't look to her but looked down rather ashamed.

Hela curled back against Falcon as she was no longer causing him pain and he released his arms but still held them lightly wrapped around her waist. Hela looked at the torn apart cottage, destroyed on the right upper side, but what stood out to her most was the flowers, candles and teddies in front of the cottage, all placed there in tribute of those lost.

"Why bring me here?" Hela tried to ask sternly but failed as tears filled her eyes and her lip trembled.

Falcon was breathing heavily, coming back from the pain that was inflicted on him and he sighed and answered, "their first anniversary was yesterday".

"I know that," she snapped and shoved his arms away and he let her. He stood while she stayed on the floor looking at the broken cottage. "Why bring me?"

"We've tried everything, I've tried everything to get you to come home, now it's time for some tough love. You need to get yourself together. They're gone and they're not coming back-"

"I'm allowed to grieve," she barked as she stood quickly, glaring at him with her fists clenched. "I'm allowed to grieve for my murdered little sister and the only woman who actually looked at me as a daughter. I was grieving then you bring me here".

She gestured to the house and that's when he grabbed her hand and turned to see her palm and saw the swirls of black markings on it, lines coming from it and spreading to her wrist. She tried to move her hand, but he held tightly as he said, "this is the reason we're here".

"Let me go".

"Make me. You have the power, so make me…" but she didn't. "You grieved like everyone else would if they lost what you have lost, but you shouldn't have turned to this. Dark soul magic. This isn't a way to grieve".

"I have to find him," she seethed, "if I find him, if I punish him, hurt him over and over again, maybe then the pain will go away".

"It won't, and you know that…a thousand years ago, you were parted from your family and that pain of never seeing your brothers again is still with you to this day. The pain you feel now will still be with you a thousand years from now".

"I don't want it".

"I can tell," he glanced down to her hand, "this may help you track his soul, it may help keep some of the pain away, but it comes at a cost. It'll corrupt you, turn you into someone we won't recognise".

She slowly shook her head and said almost pleadingly, "I don't know what to do…before I had papa, now he's in a cell. I just want to attack Asgard but I know he and Fen will be dead before I get close. This is my only way. My only way to deal with the pain, perhaps a way to bring my family back".

"No, it's not," he said as he pulled her close.

"I've lost everything. Everyone I love leaves me or dies, please leave me be".

"I won't," he said as he used his left hand and placed it on her hip to pull her close and held her blackened hand in his other. Their eyes locked as he said, "I won't be another person that leaves you because I love you…I love you, Hela, more than a friend, more than a brother loves a sister, I'm in love with you".

"No," she shook her head and looked to the house.

"And I know that you're in love with me".

She shook her head once again, but this time pushed his arms away from her and stepped away, so she wasn't within reach. "You're wrong," she said.

"Am I?" he said with a small laugh, "you must have known I've been in love with you for hundreds of years…or were Lily and I wrong?" At the name of her surrogate mother, Hela's head swiftly turned to him and he smiled and nodded, "she warned me or threatened me on numerous occasions not to break her daughter's heart and to confess my feelings soon".

"She said that?"

Fenrir nodded, "I didn't intend to do it like this, I know how much traditions means to your family, especially your father. I was going to ask him and you together for a courtship, perhaps one day I might still have that chance".

"He'd kill you".

"I know," he said as he took a few steps closer, "but I'm willing to take that chance".

"You'll die," she shook her head, "my love kills people".

"Then I'm dammed," he shrugged, "because I will always love you and I will do everything in my power to make it so you're never alone".

He was about to reach out for her when she shrieked and fell to her knees and cradled her blackened left hand. She then pushed her sleeve of the dress up and saw the black markings spreading up her arm as Falcon kneeled beside her.

"Stop this now," he commanded, "release this magic before it kills you. It has already begun to take effect on Niflheim, stop this before it destroys everything we've worked so hard for".

Her fists clenched, and she turned to him and he gasped slightly at her fully black eyes and twisted smile, "no one commands anything of me".

With a swish of her hand, Falcon was thrown back twenty feet and the winds picked up, the teddies, flowers and candles were blown away, the trees swaying enough that it seemed they would be pulled from their trunks. If anyone was to come close, they would be blown away instantly, except from Hela who began to stand as if nothing was wrong and Falcon fought against the wind and gripped on to the cobbles on the street, holding on as he crawled to her. The ground began to crack, starting with her and slowly working its way to the cottage.

"HELA, STOP THIS!" he shouted over the sound of the wind.

"No one will ever command me again, no one will ever take what's mine again," Hela said darkly.

"THIS ISN'T YOU!" he shouted again as he crawled closer, "HELA, PLEASE. DAHLIA AND LILY ARE GONE, I'M SORRY BUT THEY'RE GONE".

Hela turned and glared at him and the winds only seem to get stronger, "He has to suffer".

"HE WILL, BUT NOT LIKE THIS. YOU HAVE TO STOP THIS BEFORE YOU BECOME SOMEONE WE DON'T RECOGNISE. THIS ISN'T WHAT THEY WOULD WANT, TO CONSUME YOURSELF WITH DARKNESS".

Hela gasped, and her eyes turned back normal, but the winds didn't stop, and she seemed surprised as she said, "I can't stop it, I can't control it". Falcon got within reach and she reached down to help him stand in the wind and he gripped her arms tightly, so he wasn't blown away as he stood. She said as tears began to stream down her cheeks, "what have I done? The killings, the torture, what have I done to Niflheim?"

"They understand," he spoke loudly over the winds but didn't scream like before. "They know you're grieving".

"This isn't grieving," she shook her head, "this is destruction and pain…this is what they prophesied I would be".

"NO," he shouted, "don't begin to think like them, you will not be what the prophecies say. Just let this power go".

"I can't, it has too much control over me," she cried as her eyes began to flash black again.

"Then let me take it," he moved one of his hands quickly to her neck and pulled her close, so he could place his lips on hers.

For a single moment with all the winds pushing them apart, all the loss stacked up against her, the fear, the hatred, the darkness festering in her, the knowledge that she was destroying the world she tried so hard to build and show the universe that she wasn't the monster they believed her to be. For the first time in a very long time she forgot about all of that and melted into his arms and the lovingly passionate kiss that he provided. His mouth was warm and softer than she could have imagined, especially for the man who held the title of Death. He tasted her lips softly with the tip of his tongue and Hela opened her mouth and moaned at the feeling of his hand travelling down her neck. Lightly touching her spine before he joined his other hand on her lower back and pulled her as close as possible. Her arms wrapping around his neck, one hand in his hair then they pulled away to take a breath, their foreheads touching with their eyes closed, neither noticed the winds around them had stopped.

Her right hand slid from his hair and was gently touching his jaw as she whispered, "Falcon".

A growling made her open her eyes and she gasped when she saw his eyes blackened and the same black markings that were once on her hand were now across all his body. She didn't have a chance to pull away before he swung her away from him, using his strength as Death to throw her out of reach.

"Falcon!" she exclaimed as she pushed herself up on the floor.

Breathing heavily and frantically, panting like an animal, he bent over clutching his chest as if he couldn't fight back the pain that was being accompanied with taking the dark soul magic from the woman he loved. For a minute, he seemed to be having an internal battle as his eyes flashed between their deep sky blue and the darkest of black that when you looked into them, you could get lost into the abyss.

He turned to Hela who tried getting to him, but he held up his hand and she was contained to the floor, almost as if someone was there holding her down. "Falcon," she pleaded, "stop this".

He screamed to the sky, changing into his Death form, the skeletal form with its cloak was less frightening than the screeching the scream quickly turned into, but not for Hela on the floor, almost crying because of the pain she put him through. A black mist occurred from his mouth and flew into the night sky before it disappeared. His body fell to the ground, slowly turning back into him being Falcon. The force keeping Hela to the ground was now gone and she quickly stood and ran to him, sliding on the floor the last few feet and shook him.

"No, no, no, no, no, don't do this," she cried. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry I couldn't let it go. Come back to me," she said as she cradled his face between her hands then curled into his side, her head on his chest. She sniffled as she looked up to his face with her head resting on his chest and said, "I love you, I always have, you're right, I'm in love with you. Come back to me". With no sign of life, she cried into his chest, wishing for everything that another person she loved wasn't being taken from her.

"Hela," he mumbled then coughed, his eyes still closed but his chest now moving, his heart beating at a steady pace.

"Yes, yes!" she said happily. "I'm right here".

The illusion then faded, disappearing, and Dahlia turned to see her sister kneeled down, tracing the crack on the ground as she smiled sadly, "I was so used to him always being there, I just assumed he always would. I had him by my side longer than anyone, even in times of war he was there, and he would survive. When I left Niflheim, I thought it would all be fine, he would take over with the council and it would be okay, I should have known he would follow me. I lost all my family and I was grieving so badly that I failed to realise I had other people that became my family along the way. I thought keeping away from them would make it, so I could save them from loving me and dying or being taken. I knew he was keeping an eye on me throughout the year, all of them were, but it's when I started using dark soul magic that he tried to bring me home, to stop me from using it as it would have catastrophic affects for Niflheim".

"Dark soul magic?" Dahlia questioned as she stepped a few feet closer to her sister, "you always taught me there's no such thing as light and dark magic, only what we do with it".

Hela nodded, "and it's true," she then looked up from the ground to her sister and stood, straightening her dress as she did so. Hela bit her lip nervously for a moment then answered, "but there are few rare, and I mean very rare occasions when that rule doesn't apply. So rare that I doubt you will ever have to touch upon dark magic, at least I hope so".

"But what is that? Dark soul magic, I've heard of soul magic but never of it being dark".

"Well erm…" Hela sighed, "you know we use a form of soul magic to create the barrier around Niflheim, so we can't be attacked? It's how Niflheim fell into sorrow when I was grieving because my soul, like the councils, is linked to the barrier and the land itself. The dark soul magic I was using meant that I couldn't feel like others feel, I was able to shut down that part of myself that was grieving but I began to shut down the parts that could feel happiness, love, joy, and that's when Niflheim began to be affected as much as it did. I started to think only for myself, of power, and the magic was feeding on my need for revenge to make it stronger…" Hela nervously looked down before she looked to her sister and said, "dark soul magic is when you use the magic from a soul that's dark and twisted and beyond healing, you allow that magic to bind with your own".

"No," Dahlia gasped as she shook her head, "using corrupted magic can-"

"Damage the soul for eternity, I know," Hela said interrupting, "sister, I need you to understand the place I was in was dark. I lost you and Lily and then papa and all the pain of losing the boys again came back and everyone was looking at me as if I was going to snap and cause Ragnarok at any moment. I just wanted some peace and quiet and for people to stop asking me if I was alright. I will never go back to that again".

"Your soul is it…"

"Fine," Hela said with a small smile, "Falcon got to me just in time before it was corrupted".

Dahlia smiled teasingly and said, "'the purest of hearts, the purest of intentions and the purest of magic can solve all that which is dark in this world'. The translation might be a bit different, but I read that not too long ago. It also spoke about how love was the strongest magic out there. That kiss with Falcon seemed to banish the corrupt magic within you".

Hela let off a small laugh as she shook her head and said, "let's not go there again".

Dahlia shrugged as she walked close to her sister and said, "I'm just saying, if a man tracks you down to help bring you to sense, especially when it can cause harm to his own soul, it's love. Especially when he kisses you like that".

Even through her small smile, Hela frowned and said, "I just showed you how the year of sorrow ended, the year of time you've been wondering about since you were told about it and you want to discuss my kiss with Falcon?"

"Well, I know you won't want to tell me more today and," Dahlia said teasingly as she reached for her sister's hands to hold, "it was his kiss, his love that brought you back. Maybe you should think on that before you dismiss him".

"I haven't dismissed him," Hela said as she lost her smile, "I will always love him, he will always be my family. When he saved me from myself, we went back home, and he showed me that I wasn't as alone as I thought I was. Alec and Ari were both waiting for me at the castle, the council members were there, none mentioning what darkness I caused but welcomed me home with open arms, many even hugged me. I thought they were just members of a council I formed but they do care about me, more than I thought they did. The people didn't blame me for the darkness I put them through, more than I thought, felt sorry for me and asked for my wellbeing. Falcon was by my side through everything, I would never dismiss him".

"But maybe to him you have. Just think on it, please".

After a moment, Hela gave a single nod then hummed, "now, we're here for you to look around, not for you to be nosy about my love life again".

Dahlia nodded and let go of one of her sister's hands as they turned to the cottage but as they were about to walk forward, Dahlia stopped and looked to her sister and said, "just so you know, I'm not disappointed you used corrupted magic. If I lost all of you now, I'm not sure what I would do but I'm sure they would not be wise choices. You're my big sister, I love you".

Hela smiled and responded, "I love you too".

Authors note: Please review.